


Loss And Gain

by Callisto_HK



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-26 17:26:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7583137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callisto_HK/pseuds/Callisto_HK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I... I think I killed him!" <br/>A man's breaking point can actually be closer than anyone thinks; he could reach it very quietly and then simply give up. /Set during season 9. Rated T for Language/</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story happens during season 9, sometime before ep22, but there is a line from that episode that I've used in this story! (Not directly, of course.)
> 
> * Also, these lines might come in handy in later chapters: (Just in case you've forgotten them!)
> 
> \- "What's he building in his basement, now?" ... "Don't know. Haven't been down there in a while." ... Episode 22.
> 
> \- "You can't put that kind of weight on yourself, 'cause if you keep piling it on, one day, you can't move. Take it from me; I carry a lot, every day." ... Episode 20.

Gibbs heard the sound of his house's front door opening and closing very quietly, and then somebody stumbled through the hallway. It all sounded normal since he was used to having unannounced visitors all the time and at every hour of the day; and he wouldn't have been alarmed at all... _If_ it hadn't been almost 4 in the morning and his gut wasn't churning.  
  
That was why he reached under his pillow and grabbed his Sig and waited for the visitor to show himself. It took a bit longer than he had anticipated but finally the visitor came around the corner and stood right in front of the couch that he was sleeping on.  
  
In a fraction of a second Gibbs had his gun aimed at the intruder and then turned the light on.  
  
He was shocked for a second, though. He'd literally expected _anyone_ but the person who had been standing there.  
  
Standing right in front of him was Anthony DiNozzo Senior, looking very disheveled and distraught.  
  
Lowering his gun, Gibbs tilted his head to one side and waited for Senior to tell him what the hell he was doing there, in the middle of the night!  
  
This time, he didn't have to wait long, because a few seconds later, DiNozzo Sr. finally looked up, got his eyes locked on Gibbs' and said, "I... I think I killed my son."  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **... TBC ...**


	2. Chapter 2

The word ' _dumbfounded_ ' wouldn't even begin to describe how Gibbs was feeling at that moment!  
  
He might be used to waking up in the middle of the night to go and investigate gory crime scenes; but to hear something like that? No, you could never be prepared for it.  
  
And the way he'd been told? And more importantly the person who had delivered the news?  
  
No, he must be dreaming! That couldn't be anything but a stupid terrifying nightmare. His guilty conscience must be finally getting at him. He had been pretty harsh to his SFA lately. That was probably his subconscious mind's way to tell him that he was going too far.  
  
He lowered his gaze and for the first time noticed the blood on Senior's hands. His shirt was also stained with what seemed to be blood, like he'd been trying to clean his hands with it.  
  
Before he knew what he was doing, he was up and grabbing Senior's shirt collar. The smell of alcohol coming from his mouth made Gibbs grimace, but he refused to let him go. "What the hell are you talking about? What have you done?"  
  
"I..." Senior stammered. "I... was-" but before he could finish his sentence his eyes rolled back in his head and he bonelessly fell against Gibbs' chest.  
  
Disgusted by the older man, Gibbs shoved him away and didn't care the least bit when the man hit the ground with a loud thud.  
  
Grabbing his cell and keys, Gibbs headed for the front door when a thought occurred to him, stopping him from leaving the house. Turning around, he grabbed Senior by his arm and pulled him towards the nearest radiator pipe and cuffed him to it; making sure that he couldn't escape once he came around and remembered what he'd done and what he'd confessed to.  
  
Once he was sure that Senior was secure, Gibbs ran out of the door and jumped in his car, heading to Tony's place and calling 911 at the same time. He couldn't be sure how bad Tony was hurt or if he even needed to go to the hospital, but he thought it'd be better to be safe than sorry.  
  
He just hoped that Senior hadn't been right and Tony wasn't really dead. Because then there was nothing- ... No, he couldn't think like that. He couldn't lose Tony. And definitely not like this, by his drunken father!  
  
He got to Tony's place in record time and was out of the car before even turning off the engine; but he faltered when he realized that he couldn't remember the last time that he'd actually checked on his younger friend or seen him for something that wasn't related to work.  
  
It wasn't the right time for that kind of thoughts, though. The paramedics hadn't showed up yet, so he ran into the building and ignored the elevator, rushing up the stairs to Tony's flat. To his utter fear the door was ajar and nothing could be heard from the inside.  
  
Knowing that Senior was responsible for that, he didn't care about being cautious and just went inside. Nothing seemed out of place at first, but that changed as soon as he got to the kitchen.  
  
Fear gripped his heart for a moment as he glanced around.  
  
The table and chairs in the kitchen were all over the place and behind them was Tony. He was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood that had formed under his head, but worse than anything else were his lips which were tinged with blue.  
  
Pushing his fears aside, Gibbs knelt beside his fallen agent and reached a hand to check his pulse. It was there, not steady and definitely not strong, but it was enough for Gibbs. It didn't matter as long as Tony was alive; he could make sure that the younger man would be fine later.  
  
Cautiously, Gibbs started to check for other injuries to be able to answer the questions the paramedics would definitely have, but they arrived right then and he decided to leave his boy in their hands, so they could save him sooner.  
  
His mind was racing a mile a minute at that point; looking for a way to figure out what his next step should be, while he was trying to understand what the medics were saying. The worried look that they exchanged and the urgency in their voices didn't go unnoticed by Gibbs when they mentioned the words _'broken ribs'_ , ' _punctured lung_ ' and ' _possible brain damage due to the severe head injury and the lack of Oxygen._ '  
  
Not knowing what he could do that early in the morning, Gibbs finally decided to lock the apartment's door behind him and drive to the hospital behind the ambulance. He could deal with the crime scene a.k.a. Tony's apartment, later. He had the criminal in custody and was sure that the man couldn't escape or do anything stupid.  
  
 _'Crap.'_ He thought when he remembered that he hadn't bothered to leave a trashcan near Senior which meant he was likely to puke on the floor. ' _Disgusting! Just like the man himself!_ '  
  
He'd make him clean it himself before taking him to the Navy Yard.  
  
Soon the ambulance stopped in front of the hospital and Tony's stretcher was wheeled out of the vehicle and into the hospital and then a trauma room, leaving Gibbs with his thoughts in the waiting area.  
  
He contemplated on whether to call Ducky and ask for his help, but realized that it was too early in the morning and although it was an emergency, probably more important than anything else that they'd had in ages, there was little to nothing the old ME could do at that moment. So, he decided to wait a bit longer, at least until the sunrise.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **... TBC ...**


	3. Chapter 3

Doctor Mallard had just woken up and was about to make himself some breakfast before heading to the Navy Yard when his phone rang. Seeing Gibbs' name on the screen he sighed as he realized that once again he probably wouldn't be able to have a decent, healthy meal.  
  
"Good morning, Jethro. Where is our newest crime scene and how fast should I be there?"  
  
"I need you at Bethesda, Duck. How fast can you get here?" Came Gibbs' voice, and though it was steady, Ducky could hear the distress in his tone.  
  
"Why on the earth are you in Bethesda? What's your condition?" He asked, now feeling concerned.  
  
"It's not me, Duck. It's Tony. How fast can you get here?" Gibbs repeated his question with more force behind his words.  
  
"Oh my dear. What has happened to Anthony? Is it his lungs? How did you find out? Was he hurt at a crime scene? What-"  
  
"Duck, please." Gibbs cut him off. "I'll explain it when you get here. Can you come?"  
  
"Of course, of course. I'll be there shortly. Do you need anything?"  
  
Gibbs thought about asking for Coffee, but that meant for the ME to take a detour and he didn't want it, so he said, "No, Duck. Thanks. Just please come fast."  
  
"I'm on my way. Tell Anthony to hang on."  
  
"He's unconscious, Duck and he'll hang on if he knows what's good for him."  
  
And with that the line went dead.  
  
...  
  
Ducky arrived less than half an hour later and to Gibbs' surprise he had a cup of coffee with him. Gibbs wanted to growl and say something about it, but then realized that he was too thankful for that cup of coffee to complain about Ducky taking longer than he should to get there.  
  
"Any news?" Ducky asked when he was sure that Gibbs had enough coffee in his system.  
  
His answer was only a shake of head.  
  
"So, what happened, Jethro? Was Anthony involved in another undercover operation?"  
  
"I wish." Gibbs sighed. "At least that way I'd know what to do." Taking another swig of his coffee, he willed his anger to subside. "It was his father." He gritted out.  
  
"What?" Ducky asked after a few seconds; he wasn't sure what to think of that short phrase; surely he had heard wrong. Right?  
  
"I'm still not sure about the details; all I know is that Senior showed up at my place around 0400 and told me that he'd killed his son. I drove to Tony's place and found him on the floor; his head was bleeding and his lips were turning blue."  
  
Ducky was dumbfounded for a change. During the years of working together, they all had realized that DiNozzo Senior was far from perfect. Tony had clearly been neglected during his childhood and was still suffering from its consequences, but it'd never gone this far and although Senior was too ignorant and self-absorbed, he'd never laid a finger on his son -which could've been considered as another problem because children need to be hugged by their parents and feel their affection all the way possible-. Not that neglecting and disowning his son was any better but hitting him was just unbelievable.  
  
Gibbs studied his friend's feature and nodded. "I know."  
  
Ducky shook his head in sadness. "Have you called the rest of the team, yet? Where is Senior, now?"  
  
"No, I haven't called anyone else. I'm still waiting for some news about Tony. No need for them to know about it now."  
  
"They'll find out eventually."  
  
"Yes, but I'll prolong it as much as possible."  
  
Ducky nodded his understanding, knowing too well that despite the friendship between everyone on Gibbs' team, Tony didn't want the others to know about his problems with his father. "What about Senior?"  
  
"Secured in my house. Cuffed him to a pipe."  
  
Ducky couldn't hold back the smirk that bloomed on his face. He didn't find the time to utter any words about it as the doctor finally showed his face to give them some information about Tony.  
  
"What took you so long?" Gibbs growled.  
  
The doctor smiled faintly, he knew how hard waiting could be. "I came as soon as I could. Agent DiNozzo is stable at this moment." He started. "He had two broken ribs, one of which was close to puncturing his left lung, but we stopped it in time and fixed it."  
  
"But his lips-" Gibbs was confused.  
  
"Yes, the pressure on his lung had caused him to have trouble breathing and with his medical history it wasn't unexpected."  
  
"And he'd been unconscious." Ducky noted.  
  
"Yeah, that sure hadn't helped his condition."  
  
"What else?" Gibbs frowned.  
  
"What's worrying us is the head trauma. He's lost quite a lot of blood and hasn't regained consciousness yet. The EEG and head scans don't show anything worrisome and we've also run some more tests to check his brain activity which again seems normal so far. But we can't be sure until he wakes up."  
  
"But he _'ll_ wake up." Gibbs wanted to make sure Tony wasn't in a coma.  
  
"He should."  
  
"Should? You're not sure?"  
  
"Agent Gibbs, I'm sure you know that head traumas are tricky; he should've woken up by now and that's why we can't say anything for sure. He _should_ wake up and then we'll be able to tell you more, but till then, we can't be sure of anything. I'd say his chances of full recovery are pretty good, but we still should wait for him to wake up."  
  
Gibbs nodded.  
  
"Can we see him?" Ducky asked.  
  
"Of course; ask the nurse and she'll lead you to his room. Let me know if you have any questions."  
  
"Are you going to call your team, now? Or maybe you should get back home to Tony's father." Ducky suggested once the doctor left.  
  
"Nothing's gonna happen to that bastard; he can wait. As for the team, I'll go to the office once I see Tony. I'll tell them something when I get there."  
  
"But not the whole thing."  
  
"I won't say a thing before I know everything myself. And it's not my place to say anything, anyway. Tony can tell them if he wants."  
  
"Very well, then. Let's go visit young Anthony and encourage him to wake up sooner."  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **... TBC ...**


	4. Chapter 4

"You're late." Ziva declared when Gibbs finally arrived at the office. "And Tony is still not here."  
  
"Good observation, David; some might think you investigate for a living." Gibbs said sarcastically as he walked up the stairs to the Director's office.  
  
"And somebody has slept on the wrong side of the bed." Ziva murmured under her breath, but it was loud enough for McGee to hear her.  
  
"He _got up_ on the wrong side of the bed." Tim rolled his eyes. "And seriously, Ziva, telling Gibbs that he's late? What did you expect? He must've a good reason for that."  
  
"He was not surprised when I told him that Tony was not here." She looked up the stairs, as if she could realized what was going on in the Director's office if she looked that way.  
  
"And that, Ziva, was not really nice. Gibbs could see Tony isn't here himself. There was no reason for you to sell him out as soon as you see the Boss."  
  
"It is not my fault that Tony cannot be on time."  
  
"I'm sure Tony has a good reason."  
  
"Hmm," She narrowed her eyes. "Maybe he is doing another undercover job, yes?"  
  
McGee's head snapped up from the report he was typing.  
  
"What? Is there anything that you know and I don't?"  
  
"I do not know anything for sure." Ziva shook her head. "I am just saying that Gibbs was late, Tony is late and Gibbs was not surprised and where did he go? To the Director's office. I bet Tony has been involved in another secret operation and they have left us out of the circle again."  
  
"Out of the loop. You tend to butcher the American expressions more often when you're stressed, you know that?"  
  
"I am not stressed." Ziva looked at him sharply. "I am annoyed and that is not my fault that your expressions are ridiculous."  
  
"Just because you can't learn them doesn't mean our language is ridiculous." McGee sounded offended.  
  
"That was not the point, Tim."  
  
"Yes, you were saying that Tony was involved in another operation and we haven't been told. Tough. What can we do about it? Nothing. Let's get back to the work that we can do and we'll talk to Tony later."  
  
"Do you think he is hurt again?"  
  
"Tony? God, I hope not." Tim suddenly sounded annoyed. "He gets even more annoying when he's hurt on those missions. Maybe he should stay wherever he is."  
  
The slap on the back of his head almost gave him a heart attack.  
  
"If you think that highly of your Superior Agent, maybe you should change your team."  
  
"I... I didn't really mean it, Boss. I swear." McGee rubbed the back of his head; just how had Gibbs reappeared back in the bullpen without them noticing?  
  
"Where is Tony?" Ziva asked.  
  
"In the hospital." Gibbs answered curtly.  
  
"Oh." McGee's eyes widened. And he'd just said that he wished Tony'd stay there. _'Nice, Tim. Very nice.'_ He mentally gave himself another head slap. "I didn't-... Oh, why?"  
  
Ziva looked at Gibbs, waiting for him to answer.  
  
"You'll find out later."  
  
Ziva frowned. "It is because of another secret mission, yes?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then why can we not know, now? What is going on?"  
  
"He was mugged." Gibbs didn't know where that lie had suddenly come from, but he knew that he hadn't told it for DiNozzo Senior's sake; that man didn't deserve it. But Tony did and he'd lie for Tony anytime.  
  
"What? When? Where? What happened?" Tim asked frantically.  
  
"Still waiting for him to wake up to answer those questions. Now get back to work." Gibbs' face was completely emotionless.  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts. There's nothing you can do, so get back to work." He threw his empty coffee cup in the trashcan and stood up from his chair.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Hospital."  
  
"Can we-"  
  
"No. Not now. I'll have Ducky call you when Tony's ready to have visitors. Till then, you finish your report and then work on cold cases."  
  
...  
  
Before getting back to the Hospital, Gibbs stopped by Abby's lab and told her the same thing that he'd said to Tim and Ziva. He knew that Abby was closer to Tony than the others, but it still was Tony's call whether he wanted to tell her about his father or not.  
  
He'd told Vance the truth, though and they'd agreed to keep it quiet and leave it to Tony to tell his teammate about it if he wanted to.  
  
Gibbs knew that Vance was probably the last person that Tony wanted to be privy to his personal life, but it was better if he knew the truth. That way he wouldn't keep pushing them and wouldn't hurt Tony more while doing so.  
  
Abby had insisted on going to the hospital, but Gibbs had managed to convince her to at least wait till night.  
  
.  
  
"Any news?" He asked when he entered Tony's room, seeing Ducky standing by the window.  
  
Ducky turned around and smiled ruefully. "I would've called you if there was anything. What did you tell the team?"  
  
"That he was mugged. Told Vance the truth, though." He glanced at Tony, almost expecting him to complain.  
  
"I'm sure Anthony will understand."  
  
Gibbs shrugged as he sat down in the plastic chair. "Yeah, well, he can wake up and do the hard work himself if he doesn't like it this way."  
  
"Are you staying?"  
  
"Yes, we don't have an active case. I'll get back to the office if we get a call, but till then I'll be here. You can get back to the Yard."  
  
"I believe we don't have any important thing to do either, but I'd better go and check for myself. However, I can stay if you want to get back to your place and check on Anthony's father."  
  
Gibbs growled. He'd forgotten about Senior, but in an instant he decided that the older DiNozzo could wait. He could check on him at night.  
  
"Jethro, you can't leave him there till Anthony wakes up. He probably needs to use the restroom at the very least."  
  
"I'm pretty sure he's already puked on my floor." Gibbs wrinkled his nose. "I'll check on him in a few hours."  
  
"It's your call. I just hope you don't find him covered in anything more than his vomit."  
  
"That's gross enough." Gibbs growled. "Fine, I'll go home sooner. But he's not going anywhere."  
  
"Good to know." Ducky smiled slightly and patted his friend's shoulder. "Give me a call when Anthony wakes up, will you?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **... TBC ...**


	5. Chapter 5

Gibbs had meant it when he said he'd go home sooner, but when Tony started to finally come around, he completely forgot about it, or so he pretended.  
  
"DiNozzo? Hey, can you hear me?"  
  
Tony had trouble focusing on Gibbs' face or voice and he wasn't sure where he was or what had happened.  
  
"Tony?" There was a hint of concern in his Boss' voice.  
  
"I see you've finally decided to join the rest of us. Nice of you." Doctor Wilson entered the room, followed by the nurse who'd informed him about the changes in Tony's vitals.  
  
Tony blinked slowly, turned his gaze towards the door and frowned.  
  
"Headache, huh? Well, you have a severe concussion, so that's to be expected."  
  
Tony swallowed and turned green when that simple action triggered heavy nausea. Before he could ask for help or turn around, hands were helping him up and a basin appeared in front of his face.  
  
When he was done throwing up his gut, he fell bonelessly against the extra pillow that once again had _appeared_ behind him.  
  
"Rinse your mouth. Don't swallow just now." The nurse came to his side with a cup of water and helped him rinse his mouth.  
  
"Feeling any better?"  
  
Tony looked up and realized the question had come from the doctor, so he just nodded.  
  
"Good. Now let's get back to the routine. Welcome aboard, I'm Doctor Wilson and I'll be your attending physician during your stay with us." He smiled.  
  
Tony opened his mouth, but nothing left it, so the nurse gave him some water.  
  
Wilson grinned. "It's OK, I know who you are and I know that you're glad to see me."  
  
"Not really." Tony forced the words out and tried to give the man a shadow of his smirk.  
  
"And they say the doctors are heartless." The doctor feigned being hurt and disappointed. "So, do you even want to know what the verdict is?"  
  
Tony looked around and found his boss, standing in a corner, staring at him with a smirk at the corner of his mouth.  
  
"I'd rather know why I'm here." He croaked.  
  
Gibbs frowned. "What's the last thing you remember?"  
  
"I... I'm not-" Tony swallowed. "Not sure."  
  
Gibbs looked at the strangers in the room and decided to wait. "We'll talk about it later. Answer your doctor's question, first."  
  
"Thank you." The doctor was clearly enjoying himself. He was like Tony in so many ways. "You've had two broken ribs but we wired the bones back together before they could puncture your lung. Also you have a heavily bruised lung and two other cracked and bruised ribs. Other than that you have some bruising around your  navel  which is clearly caused by being kicked."  
  
Tony frowned. _'Kicked? Just what kind of case were we working on?'_ He didn't say anything, though. From the expression on Gibbs' face, it wasn't something good and he knew his boss well enough to know that if the older man wanted to keep something between them, he must've had a damn good reason.  
  
"Now that we're done with all the other injuries we can get to your head trauma. So, can you tell me your and that guy's name?"  
  
_'Shouldn't that be your main concern and first question?'_ Tony wanted to ask, but realized that he didn't really care about the answer. So, he answered the question instead, "Anthony DiNozzo. And that's Leroy Jethro Gibbs."  
  
"Good, do you know where you are?"  
  
"Even if I had lost my memory, I could tell that I was in a hospital. What kind of question is that?"  
  
"Fair enough. Well, Blood loss and severe concussion had us worried for a while. We need to run a few more tests and scans, but if everything goes well, you could be released in a couple of days. We'll talk later about when you can get back to work, though."  
  
Tony nodded absently. "Good, can that wait? The scans, I mean. I need to talk to my boss, first."  
  
"Of course. Tell the nurse when you're ready."  
  
Wilson and the nurse left the room after that to let Tony and Gibbs talk.  
  
"So, what happened? Was it another undercover op?"  
  
"No. You still can't remember anything?"  
  
Tony rubbed his forehead. It was hurting badly, but he needed to remember; something was telling him that this was important. He finally shook his head. "The last thing I remember is leaving the office and I'm pretty sure I wasn't involved in any kind of mission."  
  
"You had a visitor last night." Gibbs hinted, not wanting to shock Tony with what he knew and the younger man had forgotten. There was a possibility that the memory loss was more of a psychological reaction than a physical problem due to the actual head trauma. Nobody would react well to being hit by their drunken father, after all.  
  
"Visi-" Tony's eyes widened. "Oh God. My father was there. Is he alright? He's dead, isn't he? Somebody must've entered my apartment to get back at me for something I did and my father was-"  
  
"DiNozzo." Gibbs growled.  
  
He couldn't believe it; Tony was actually worried for his father; the same man who'd beaten the hell out of him. Apparently, he could remember that his father was there, but instead of remembering what the man had done to him, he was worried for his well-being. That bastard didn't deserve a son like Tony. It wasn't fair.  
  
"Your father is alright. At least he was the last time I saw him which was last night around 0400. He showed up at my place and his hands were covered in blood. Your blood." Gibbs explained, still hoping that his agent could remember the rest on his own.  
  
How in the hell was he supposed to tell his friend that he'd been hit by his father? Tony had just started to rebuild his relationship with his old man; it'd be too hard for him.  
  
Tony stared at him for a good two minutes and little by little his demeanor turned dark, letting Gibbs know that he was remembering things that his mind had blocked. "Where's he?" He asked somberly.  
  
"At my place."  
  
Tony frowned, "Wha-"  
  
"Cuffed to a pipe. I wanted to let you decide about him. He should be charged for what he did, but-"  
  
"Let him go." Tony cut him off.  
  
"Tony-"  
  
"No." Tony slowly shook his head. "Thanks for keeping it quiet; I really don't need everyone else's pity. But let him go, he was just drunk."  
  
"They won't pity you, but that's your call and that's why I didn't tell the team. Vance knows, though and before you say anything, it's for the best."  
  
Tony sighed and closed his eyes. "Yeah, you're probably right. But if it was up to me, I... I-"  
  
"I understand." Gibbs reassured him. "But right now, it's just me, Ducky and Vance. The others will bombard you with questions, but I told them that you were mugged and that's all they need to know if you want it to stay a secret."  
  
Tony sighed and nodded. "Thanks."  
  
"You can't just let him go." Gibbs tried again; even though he knew that pressing charges against Senior meant for Tony to tell everyone what had happened to him.  
  
"Gibbs, I won't press charges against him. He's my father; I don't wanna see him ever again and I'll tell him that, but I won't put him in jail. Besides, I can't have everyone talking about me being hit by my father like a little helpless kid."  
  
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "You didn't expect him to do that; it doesn't make you a kid. What happened?"  
  
Tony was silent for a few seconds, thinking about the other night. "I'm still not sure what we were arguing about, but he'd shown up around 0130 and I was already in a bad mood for being woken up that early and he was being ridiculous again and... I don't know really. Don't think he can remember anything either. I knew he was drunk, but I really didn't expect him to do what he did. He'd never done such a thing before. One second we were talking, or shouting at each other, whatever, and the next..." he fell silent. "I don't remember the next."  
  
"It's OK. I think he was pretty shocked himself. He thought you were dead."  
  
"Geez; and he showed up at your place telling you that?" Tony grimaced. "Boss, I'm sorry."  
  
"Not your fault that your father is a jerk." Gibbs shook his head. "You sure you don't want him in jail?"  
  
"Positive." Tony looked away.  
  
"I'll make sure he'd never bother you again." The older agent said the only thing he could to reassure his friend.  
  
"Thanks." Tony sighed. "For everything."  
  
"I'll always have your six." Gibbs squeezed his shoulder. "Get some rest. Abby will be here before it gets dark."  
  
Tony smiled. "Thanks for the heads-up. And... Umm, if my father's done anything to your place, I'll fix it. I promise."  
  
"I'll make him clean his mess before throwing him out. Don't worry about it." The ex-marine smirked. "By the way, you open your place's door to anyone other than the team members later than 2300 and I'll kick your ass."  
  
"You saying that you were worried?" Tony gave him a real grin for the first time that day.  
  
"No, I was having a party on the inside thinking that you might be dead." Gibbs deadpanned. "I'll see you later tonight and will let you know what I did to your father."  
  
"As long as you don't kill him." Tony forced a smile. "He's not worth it."  
  
" _You_ are."  
  
"Umm... Thanks." Tony's voice was so quiet and shaky that Gibbs barely heard him; he smiled in return and left the room to take care of the more important business at hand.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
**... TBC ...**


	6. Chapter 6

As soon as Gibbs stepped inside his house, the smell of vomit hit him. It was so strong that if he wasn't used to it, he sure would've run to the bathroom and puked himself.  
  
A low moan came from the living room which was followed by Senior's voice, "Gibbs, is that you?"  
  
"You expect someone else?" Gibbs growled. "Thanks for ruining my living room, by the way."  
  
"I wouldn't have if I wasn't cuffed to a damn pipe. Where the hell were you? Why in the hell am I cuffed?" He would've yelled if he didn't think it'd intensify his headache.  
  
"Why do you think?" Gibbs gave him a hard glare.  
  
"You went to Tony's." Senior's anger faded away immediately.  
  
"Someone should've since his biological father is nothing more than a drunken bastard." He emphasized the word ' _biological_ ', indicating that Senior was nothing that a real father should be.  
  
"Is he... Is-" Senior couldn't finish his sentence.  
  
He'd woken up with a killer headache and had no idea where he was or what had happened. He'd tried to move and get to a bathroom, but when he found out that he was cuffed, he couldn't stop himself from bringing up his last night's meal.  
  
It was only then that he saw his blood-covered hands and remembered what he'd done.  
  
He didn't have a clear memory; all he could remember was waking up on the floor of Tony's apartment and the first thing that he'd seen was his son's battered form lying in front of him with his face and head covered in blood and his lips blue. He'd jumped up and tried to wake his son up, but he hadn't been successful.  
  
Tony was gone.  
  
He didn't know why or how he'd come to Gibbs', but he could remember telling the agent about his son and then nothing.  
  
Remembering his son's lifeless body had made him puke one more time, but that had been around 11 in the morning and he'd been waiting for someone to come and get him ever since.  
  
"You checked him yourself, didn't you?" Gibbs asked, not giving away anything about Tony's well-being.  
  
"I tried to wake him up. I-" tears welled up in his eyes and Senior blinked hard to stop them from falling; DiNozzos don't cry, after all. Not even for the loss of their family or friends. Or their only son, for that matter!  
  
"You didn't even bother to check his pulse, did you? Oh what am I saying, you were loaded to the gills; you couldn't even move your sorry ass without running into a wall. What the hell happened there? What did you do?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"You don't know?" Gibbs growled as he knelt in front of the older man, grabbed him by his collar and shook him. "You beat the crap out of your own son and you don't even know what the hell you were arguing about? You're a poor excuse of a man, let alone a father. You don't deserve someone like him in your life. You don't deserve a son like Tony." He couldn't help but yell.  
  
He'd been grieving the loss of his child more than 20 years and there in front of him was a man who had an amazing son and yet he'd ignored and neglected the said son repeatedly and like it wasn't bad enough, now he'd hit him and put him in the hospital.  
  
Gibbs had tried hard not to interfere in their lives directly; he'd tried to give them space and time and in the meantime he'd tried to show the older man that he had to appreciate and cherish the treasure he still had, but instead of opening his eyes, that bastard had hurt his son even more.  
  
Gibbs couldn't forget the defeated look he'd seen in Tony's eyes when he'd remembered that it was his father who had put him there.  
  
Gibbs'd done everything to open Senior's eyes, but the man was a lost cause.  
  
So now, he'd settle for the second best thing he could do for his friend. He'd make sure that that bastard father of the younger man's would be out of his life for good.  
  
Tony didn't need a father like him; he never really had one, although in his 40s he still craved a father figure. But Gibbs would do his best to give Tony what he needed and fill that spot. He might not have been there for Tony much, lately, but he would try harder.  
  
"Do you know what was his first thought when he remembered you were there last night? He was worried for you. He was worried you might've gotten hurt. You bastard hurt him and he still keeps worrying for you and helping you, even though you don't deserve him."  
  
"You're-" Senior was shocked. "He woke up? You mean he's alive? I didn't kill him? O God." He was visibly shaking.  
  
"You don't look so happy to hear that. Why is that? You wanted something from him that he wouldn't give and you thought that if he died you could get it? You'll never get anywhere near him again. You hear me?" Gibbs pushed him backwards, he knew that what he was saying wasn't true, but he somehow wanted to hurt Senior as much as he could.  
  
"What?" Senior was puzzled. "No, I just asked for some money and yes he refused to give it to me when he heard the amount I needed, but I'd never want him dead."  
  
This time it was Gibbs' turn to look puzzled, albeit for a few seconds. "Thought you couldn't remember what you wanted from him." He snarled. "And money? Really? You hurt your son for money? How-"  
  
"I didn't mean to." Senior whined. "He's my son, I love him."  
  
"I might've believed you yesterday, if I tried _really_ hard. But today? After what you did last night? I don't even know how you can say that. I'm not sure you even know what those words mean." Gibbs hissed. "You're lucky, though. One lucky bastard, who I repeat, does _not_ deserve a son like Tony and I'll make sure you'll be out of his life, because I owe him that much."  
  
Senior gulped. "You can't do that. I wanna see my son, now."  
  
"Your son doesn't want to see you, now. In fact, he doesn't want to see you, period. He wanted me to let you go; he wouldn't press any charges, but he doesn't want to have anything to do with you from now on and I'll grant his wish, but before that, you'll clean your mess, here _and_ in Tony's apartment. And if I ever hear from you again or see you around him, I'll make sure that you'll end up in jail and won't be out of it for at least another 10 years. Am I clear?"  
  
DiNozzo Sr. didn't say anything. He was known for being stubborn and pushy; he wasn't one to admit defeat. All his life he'd gotten whatever he'd wished for and he wasn't about to let one little agent, who thought he was more of a father to his son than he was, separate him from his son.  
  
Admittedly, he'd gone too far, but everyone was allowed to make a mistake or two and he might've made a few more than that, but he still was Tony's father and he knew perfectly well how forgiving Tony was. He'd forgive his old man and then they'd work on their issues. He'd make a good deal and then would buy Tony something big to show him that he cared. he'd-  
  
His thoughts were interrupted as Gibbs' fist connected with his jaw hard and he ended up face down in his own vomit on the floor.  
  
"You. Will. Not. Get near Tony, again." Gibbs seethed and then uncuffed him. "Clean your mess and don't even think about running away, because I'll happily shoot you."  
  
...  
  
That night, after Gibbs made DiNozzo Sr. clean his and Tony's place, he took him to the bus station, got him a ticket, punched him one more time and stood there till Senior got in and the bus left.  
  
If anyone saw him punch Senior, nobody said anything since Senior, himself, didn't protest, at all. He'd tried to ask Gibbs to tell his son that he loved him and that was why Gibbs had punched him again.  
  
Gibbs knew that it wouldn't end that easily, but Sr. was scared and ashamed enough to stop talking altogether. Or maybe he was just making plans for later, but Gibbs would deal with it when the situation called for it.  
  
He got back to the hospital to find Tony asleep in his bed, with Abby's head on his arm. She was holding Tony's hand tightly even in her sleep.  
  
Standing there for a few more minutes, he finally decided to call it safe and then he turned around and left the hospital for the night.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **... TBC ...**


	7. Chapter 7

Later, Gibbs learned that Tony had told Abby the truth and had made her promise to keep it a secret. He didn't want Ziva and Tim to know about what his father had done to him and it was totally understandable. So they decided to give everyone the mugging story and move on.  
  
Abby was shocked; she couldn't believe that Tony's father could've done such a thing. She'd seen the man and he always seemed sweet, a bit creepy, but it didn't seem like he could hit someone else and his son for that.  
  
But then again, Abby didn't really know him; she had never believed the stories Tony had given them in very few occasions. It wasn't until that particular case around Thanksgiving Day that she realized the man could really drink himself to oblivion and that was when she felt ashamed for not believing Tony.  
  
But even then she didn't think the older DiNozzo could ever hit anyone. Right now, though, she was so angry with him that she thought she could kill him and leave no trace behind.  
  
No one was allowed to hurt her Tony and walk away, not even his own father. Especially not his own father!  
  
Gibbs had told Tony what he'd said and done to his father. Tony had only nodded and smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes; once again he'd been let down and he was getting old for being betrayed over and over again.  
  
He was tired and Gibbs could see it in his eyes and every movement.  
  
Tony had gone back to work after another week of resting and things had started to get back to normal, except the fact that Tony was more withdrawn than they had ever seen him.  
  
Those who knew what his problem was couldn't really do anything. He wouldn't talk about his feelings much with anyone.  
  
Ducky would talk and Tony would stand there and listen to him quietly and then would tell him that he was fine; that although he hadn't been hit before by his father, he wasn't surprised or anything. He'd told the old ME that he knew that his father had just been drunk and he'd never hurt him on purpose but he just didn't want to deal with his father's messes and stupidity anymore.  
  
Abby kept inviting herself to his place and were giving him more hugs than she'd been giving him lately. Tony in return would bring her more Caf-pows and kept reassuring her that he was doing just fine.  
  
There was only so much everyone could do.  
  
Tim and Ziva didn't know what was bothering their teammate and like every other time, they kept cornering him and asking him questions or sometimes would use taunting to see how Tony would react. But better than every other time, Tony deflected them and never answered one single question with honesty.  
  
Gibbs was another story, though. He had realized that it'd been a long time since the last time that Tony had come to his place just to sit there and watch him work or talk.  
  
After the current unfortunate incident, Gibbs had told himself that he'd be there more for the younger man, but it seemed like, this time, Tony was keeping his distance deliberately.  
  
He didn't know the reason, but he could say that it wasn't something new. Tony had been distant for a while now, but before this, Gibbs wouldn't pay much attention. He'd been preoccupied with their cases and his own life and he'd thought that Tony would come to him if he needed to talk. They'd been working together for more than eleven years now, Tony must know that he could trust his boss with his problems, and Gibbs liked to believe that the younger man knew it, he'd ended up at Gibbs' place more than once, after all.  
  
The last time had been a long time ago, though. Gibbs tried to remember it and couldn't come up with anything after Christmas which was months ago.  
  
A few times, Gibbs had confronted Tony at work, but the younger man had always brushed it off, telling him that he was just fine and not even once had he come to his place after their short talks during the day.  
  
Now after almost three weeks, Gibbs had had enough. So, he'd all but ordered Tony to get his ass there for dinner and here he was; making dinner and trying to think of a way to make his young friend open up to him again, so he could understand what was bothering Tony that he couldn't come to his boss anymore.  
  
There was a knock on the door and then a few seconds of silence before the door opened and someone walked in. Gibbs frowned and looked up from the fireplace he was sitting by. His frown turned into a confused look when he saw Tony coming in with a six pack of beer.  
  
"Hi, Boss." Tony smiled.  
  
"Since when do you knock?" Gibbs inquired.  
  
"Well, I didn't want to interrupt anything. Wasn't sure if you were alone."  
  
"The door is always open for you." Gibbs insisted. "When was the last time you showed up here, anyway?" He handed Tony a plate.  
  
"Hmm, thanks." Tony accepted the offered plate and put it down to take his overcoat off.  
  
"When was it?"  
  
"When was what?" Tony asked and received a glare in return. "Oh, the last time I was here? I don't know; it's been a while."  
  
"And why is that?"  
  
Tony put his knife down and turned his head to look at Gibbs. "What's this about?"  
  
"I just wanna know what made you stop coming here?"  
  
"And since when you care so much?" Tony was annoyed; nobody seemed to care what the hell would happen to him before his encounter with his father and now suddenly everyone was interested in his personal life. He wouldn't show how annoyed he was, but he was getting really tired.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gibbs glared at his SFA.  
  
Putting the plate down Tony sighed. "Gibbs, don't play dumb, it really doesn't suit you. Tell me what this is about and why I am here, so we can get it over with."  
  
"This is about having dinner together, like old times. Eat." Gibbs ordered and turned his attention to his plate and quietly started to eat. Silently he cursed himself for bringing up that sensitive subject too fast. He knew Tony was on the edge; the plan wasn't to break him; it was to calm him down and reassure him. He already had enough on his plate; it wasn't right to add to it.  
  
Contemplating for a few more seconds, Tony finally grabbed his plate and restarted eating with no words.  
  
When they were done, Tony put his plate down and grabbed his beer. Bracing himself for the upcoming discussion, he turned his gaze to his Boss and asked, "Seriously, what's this about?"  
  
"I told you, dinner."  
  
"Gibbs." Tony warned.  
  
Gibbs just stared at the younger man.  
  
"Fine." Tony sighed, "In that case, thanks a lot for the delicious dinner. It was great. You didn't have to put yourself through so much trouble, but thanks. I should get going." Tony reached for his overcoat.  
  
"You have any problem with me, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked before Tony could get up.  
  
"What?" Forgetting his overcoat for the moment, Tony sat back again. "Boss? Why would you think that I have any problem with you? What have I done?"  
  
"You seem distant."  
  
"Me?" Tony genuinely looked confused. "I really don't get it."  
  
"You said it yourself; you haven't been here in a while. And when your father showed up, I realized that I didn't know what was going on with you."  
  
"Is that what this is about? My father again? I really wish nobody knew about it." Tony rubbed his temple.  
  
"Everyone is worried. But this isn't about it. I told you I wouldn't let that bastard near you again and like it or not, I meant it."  
  
"Well, I still haven't changed my mind, so thanks. But if this isn't about that fight with my father, then I don't know what this is about. So I haven't been here for a few months, what's the big deal?"  
  
"The big deal is that it's not like you, DiNozzo."  
  
"And how would you know that?"  
  
"You see. You're annoyed. What's the problem?" Gibbs said calmly.  
  
Tony sighed in exasperation; Gibbs was right. He was annoyed. Actually, he was pissed off. And Gibbs would always know what was going on with his people; he might be preoccupied and late sometimes, but he'd always come around.  
  
"Your father told me what he wanted from you that night. It was money."  
  
Tony's head snapped up.  
  
"You remember that, though. Don't you? Why did you say you couldn't remember?" Gibbs asked gently.  
  
"What difference would it make?" Tony looked away. "What would you think of me if I told you that my father hit me just for money? And that just like a little kid who doesn't share anything, I refused to give it to him."  
  
"DiNozzo." Gibbs growled; he wasn't mad at Tony or anything, he just couldn't believe it that Tony thought he might think any less of him if he knew the whole truth. "I wouldn't have given him the money if he were _my_ father. You did the right thing." He tried to reassure.  
  
"He's not that old to be your father." Tony quipped after a few seconds of silence.  
  
Gibbs was glad to hear that little bit of normalcy, even if it meant that Tony was once again hiding behind his jokes; he wanted to know the truth more, though. "But the fight with him isn't the only problem, is it?"  
  
Tony sighed. Gibbs was really getting on his nerve.  
  
"So?" Gibbs pushed.  
  
"So nothing. You're right, I'm not comfortable like I used to be, but that's OK. Everything is fine. You don't need to worry." No matter what, Tony wasn't one to talk about his true feelings or problems willingly.  
  
"Right, that's why you haven't been here since Christmas and now that you finally came, you knocked before coming in. Talk."  
  
"I really should go." Tony grabbed his coat and stood up. "Thanks for the dinner." And he was out of the door before Gibbs could stop him.  
  
Gibbs cursed himself for many reasons; for pushing Tony too hard to talk; for not seeing how bad Tony was falling apart; for not realizing it sooner; for letting it get this far; for not stopping Tony from leaving.  
  
Things were getting out of hand and he knew that it'd be too late if he didn't act quickly; Tony's problem with his father had clearly acted as a catalyst.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **... TBC ...**


	8. Chapter 8

The following morning came sooner than Gibbs had liked, but at least he could have an eye on Tony at work.  
  
Tony arrived a little after Gibbs and it seemed like that he hadn't gotten much rest, if the look on his face was anything to go by.  
  
After mumbling a ' _hey, Boss'_ , Tony had started to work quietly and soon was joined by McGee and Ziva. Those two knew that Tony was more distant these days and every day they would try to tease him to see if he was doing better, but every time Tony would answer only half-heartedly and his smiles and grins would never reach his eyes.  
  
The thing was that he had somehow given up on pretending; he was too tired to make too much effort. He might've been spent many times before, but he'd never really been ready to just give up. This time, though...  
  
Tony could remember his own words to Maria Castro when she'd blamed herself for the thing that had happened to her friend in Colombia. He'd told her that she couldn't put that kind of weight on herself.  
  
Castro was the only person to whom Tony had talked about the heavy burden that he was carrying around every day. He'd never admitted that out loud, and since that day he couldn't stop thinking about his own words.  
  
Now he felt like he was close to that breaking point that he'd told Castro about; the day that he wouldn't be able to move anymore.  
  
He'd _almost_ reached that point many times before, but every time he'd pushed himself further and had found another thing to cling to, so he could keep going.  
  
Now though; now, he couldn't really bother to look for another reason; for something to grasp to keep himself from falling.  
  
He was exhausted.  
  
He knew it was stupid, but he felt guilty for not wanting to talk to his father; the man had tried to call him a couple of times but Tony wouldn't answer his calls and couldn't help but feel bad about it.  
  
He was also mad again at himself for talking too much.  
  
He'd read the copy of his performance appraisal review in which Gibbs had mentioned that Tony talked too much. Tony had been hurt and by default he'd started to talk even more. Gibbs had kept throwing it into his face that he didn't appreciate it; and when he'd finally stopped, Gibbs had told him that he didn't like it but he depended on his 'Yabba Yabba'. Tony had smiled and buried everything, that day, like he'd always done, but the hard feelings was still there.  
  
He knew that he was probably being too sensitive, but he was tired. Maybe Gibbs was right, maybe if he didn't talk that much, things would turn out fine.  
  
He was the only one at fault for everything.  
  
He couldn't resist blaming himself for his problems; for the things that had happened in the past; for the way his father and everyone else treated him; for every mess that kept happening around him; for all the people he couldn't help or even for the death of his friends and partners.  
  
It was too late for him; he couldn't stop carrying that burden now and he was dangerously close to the point where he would stop altogether; where he couldn't move anymore; where he'd just crash and burn under the pressure.  
  
He'd thought about seeing someone and talking to a professional about his problems, but there wasn't a thing that a shrink could tell him that he didn't already know.  
  
So he decided to do what he always did when he felt he was on the edge of losing it all; Keep going and busying himself with the job.  
  
He might be too tired to put too much effort into it, but he still could go on and would do it until he couldn't anymore. One step at a time.  
  
The shrill ring of his cellphone cut into his thoughts. "DiNozzo." He answered the phone.  
  
The fact that he wouldn't answer his calls with his normal 'Very special agent Anthony DiNozzo' hadn't gone unnoticed by the others.  
  
"Hey. Uh-huh... What?... Where?... OK, we'll be right there." He cut the line and grabbed his gear while announcing that they had two dead bodies.  
  
"And why did they call _you_ , DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"You might wanna check your cell phone. Apparently it's off." Tony said in lieu of reasoning.  
  
Gibbs frowned, but checked it and threw it to Tony before heading to the elevator.  
  
...  
  
The crime scene was a wide field; the bodies belonged to two men and both were bruised, bloodied and shirtless.  
  
Once there, they all started to do their tasks but stopped when they heard Tony's sharp intake of breath and curse.  
  
"You know him?" Tim asked.  
  
"Yes." Tony answered quietly, still staring at one of the bodies.  
  
"And?" Gibbs asked when Tony didn't elaborate.  
  
Taking his eyes from the body on the ground, Tony looked up at his Boss. "He was one of my informants."  
  
Ziva and Tim exchanged a look but chose to remain silent.  
  
"When was the last time you heard from him?" Gibbs asked.  
  
"It's..." Tony tried to remember. "Well, it's been at least 3 months now."  
  
"You sure? Maybe you should check your cellphone." McGee suggested. "Last time you knew a victim it was your former partner and he'd left a message on your voicemail before dying."  
  
"In case you haven't noticed, I have my cellphone right here with me and I think I know how to check my messages, McFlawless." The venom in Tony's voice made McGee visibly flinch. He clearly had hit a nerve and instantly felt bad for saying those words.  
  
Glaring angrily at the junior agent, Gibbs made a mental note to talk to Tony about that. The younger man didn't need to blame himself for his old partner's death again and he sure didn't need to blame himself for his informant's death.  
  
"So that means you can't tell us about what he'd been involved in?"  
  
Tony only shook his head and got back to work, not uttering another word. He heard Gibbs growling at McGee for his inappropriate comment, saying that it was past the time for the junior agent to grow up and keep his mouth shut when necessary.  
  
...  
  
Later they identified the dead marine as Lieutenant James Andrews and after interviewing his wife they realized that James and Adam, Tony's informant, had been friends for some time now. Andrews' wife told them that they weren't supposed to be in DC. They had left the city to go to Richmond for some kind of reunion; or that was what she'd been told.  
  
She was devastated by the news of her husband's death, but that didn't stop her from mentioning that he'd been acting weirdly lately.  
  
The good thing was that Adam didn't have any close family; Tony thought that he had a girlfriend, but turned out that they had broken up a few months prior.  
  
That night, Tony didn't leave the office and when Gibbs saw him the next morning he looked terrible, but the older man kept his comments to himself. They had a case to solve and Gibbs knew how important it was to Tony but despite all their efforts, every lead they had, would turn out to be a dead end.  
  
By the second night Gibbs forced Tony to leave the office. There simply was no way he'd let Tony run himself to death just because he knew the victim, and he was sure that Tony would do that if he didn't stop him.  
  
Gibbs was tempted to get Tony to his place, but considering what had happened the last time Tony had been to his place, he decided against it. He needed to solve the mystery and figure out what was bothering Tony and as soon as this case was closed, he'd get everything out of Tony, one way or another. He couldn't step aside and watch his best agent crash and burn.  
  
He came back to office sooner the next morning, determined to find a lead to solve the case; but there still was nothing. They had a suspect and knew that he was the culprit, but had no solid evidence against him.  
  
Sometime around 0730 McGee and Ziva stalked into the bullpen; that wasn't unusual for them, but what was unusual was that Tony hadn't arrived yet. Gibbs was sure that the younger man would show up around 0600 or 0630, at the latest, but it was almost 0800 and there was still no sign of Tony.  
  
Gibbs thought that maybe he'd finally run out of whatever that was pushing him forward and the exhaustion had pulled him under. That would be a good thing since Tony seemed to be getting less and less sleep and rest, recently. So, Gibbs decided to give it another hour before calling him.  
  
They all worked in silence for the next hour or so but when Gibbs checked his watch and saw that it was a few minutes past 9, he started to get worried. Grabbing his badge and gun he left the office to get to Tony's place.  
  
Something was wrong. He just knew it.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **... TBC ...**


	9. Chapter 9

Something was wrong!

Gibbs could tell it as soon as he stepped behind the closed door of Tony's flat.  
  
Not wanting to waste his time with knocking and waiting for the door to be open, Gibbs easily picked the lock and entered the quiet apartment. What he saw shocked him but he guessed it was better than what he'd imagined he'd see.  
  
Right there, in the living room, was Tony. sitting on his couch, staring into space blankly and lost in his thoughts. What bothered Gibbs the most, though, was that Tony was still in his last night's clothing.

So much for getting rest!

The younger man had spent another sleepless night!   
  
"Tony?" Gibbs asked tentatively but received no reaction from him, as if the younger man hadn't even noticed he was there.  
  
The expression on his face was like nothing Gibbs had ever seen on that usually bright-with-grin face. It felt like the Tony he knew was replaced by a poor clone. This guy looked just like Tony, but other than that he didn't seem to have anything in common with his SFA.  
  
Even his eyes were different; they were dull and lifeless.  
  
Gibbs cursed under his breath. Due to difficult circumstances they all had forgotten that Tony didn't really have anyone to talk to, or any way to deal with his demons when things got too out of hand.  
  
He'd failed to see how hard Tony was trying to keep up his old facade; he'd just bark at him and push him away when the younger man would reach out for help. Figuratively.  
  
"Just because you knew the guy, doesn't mean you're responsible for his death." Gibbs sat down beside him on the couch and was sure that Tony still hadn't heard him until Tony reached out and pressed a button on the phone on the coffee table.  
  
A recorded message started to fill the air.  
  
At first Gibbs was confused, but by the end of the message Gibbs knew what exactly had been the last straw.  
  
"He's in the hospital." Tony repeated icily what he'd heard on the message. His face was still void of emotion and empty. "I'm his next of kin." He murmured.  
  
Gibbs held back the urge to curse Senior out loud; the bastard had hurt Tony over and over again and he still had the guts to get the hospital to call Tony when he needed his dutiful son.  
  
"I'll go with you if you need to go." Instead of cursing, he tried to show some support.  
  
That finally got Tony's attention as he turned his gaze and for the first time looked at his boss. "I don't know what's wrong with him; I'm not even sure if I wanna go." His eyes were filled with pain; it was one of those rare moments when Tony would let you take a look behind his many masks.  
  
"You don't have to."  
  
"Apparently I do." Tony sighed.  
  
"You should've called me last night." It was clear to Gibbs that Tony had heard the message last night, just when he'd arrived home.  
  
There was no response.  
  
"When should you leave?" The older agent didn't want to push.  
  
"Not now. We're in the middle of a case." It seemed like Tony had started to, once again, set up his defenses. At least he was trying again.  
  
"We can always pass it to another team."  
  
"No." Tony's head snapped up. "This is more important."  
  
"Okay." Gibbs accepted easily. _'Even better.'_ He thought and didn't even feel guilty about it. Senior had to understand that he couldn't demand and get whatever he wished whenever he wished.  
  
The man sure could wait; the nurse who'd left the message hadn't said anything about a critical situation; in fact she's said that she was calling Tony only because the older DiNozzo wanted his son by his side. It was past the time that DiNozzo Sr. realized Tony was a grown man who had a life and a very important job on top of it and couldn't just drop everything to rush to his aid whenever he messed up.  
  
The man, himself, wouldn't show up even if his son was dying and he never had anything that important, really; and let's not mention how badly he'd hurt his son recently.  
  
Tony shook his head and rubbed his temple, a clear sign of the headache he was trying to hide.  
  
"You need some rest."  
  
"I'm fine." Tony got up from the couch that he'd been sitting on for the past 12 hours and his eyes widened in shock when his eyes fell on the clock on the wall and realized that he hadn't moved from his spot since last night. He'd wondered why Gibbs was there for a second, but couldn't bring himself to ask. He now knew why his boss was there.  
  
"DiNo-"  
  
"Boss, I'm fine. I just need to take a shower." He chose not to ponder what sitting on a couch for more then 12 hours and losing so many hours meant. "It won't take long. You go back to the Yard; I'll be right behind you."  
  
"I'll wait here." Gibbs gave in. He could understand that Tony needed to keep his mind busy; besides, he himself would've been just as determined to solve the case if he knew the victim, too.  
  
And he knew that it'd be better if he could keep Tony around and have an eye on him. The fact that the younger man hadn't moved from his spot on the couch for more than 12 hours was showing how bad things were.  
  
Less than 30 minutes later, Tony was out of the shower and ready to go and didn't even protest when Gibbs led him to his own car.  
  
.  
  
There was nothing on the victims' corpses that could lead them to anything, but by noon things were looking better.  
  
Through one of his old contacts Tony had managed to find a friend of Adam's who'd been hiding the whole time but wanted the bastard who'd killed his friend dead. The man had given Tony some information and with that and everything else that McGee and Ziva had found they were sure that Pedro Adriano, their principal suspect, was responsible for the murderers.  
  
They just needed some solid evidence!  
  
Their suspect was Hispanic, dealing drugs and weapons; but he was a low grade dealer and hopefully with a simple undercover operation they could catch him.  
  
Gibbs decided to send Tony and McGee inside as two dealers. Tony would handle the operation while McGee would act as the computer boy, dealing with accounts and money transfers. Apparently Pedro liked to deal with people who had a geek boy around.  
  
As their main backups, Gibbs and Ziva stayed behind and monitored everything.  
  
With the help of Adam's friend they found their way inside pretty easily.  
  
Tony was sure they could finish everything and close the case soon and then he could go to New York and see what was wrong with his father. Although he was still angry with his old man, he couldn't leave him when he needed someone. He'd promised himself long time ago that he'd never act like his father and if he turned his back on him now, he'd just, as well, admit that he was becoming like the older man.  
  
Everything was going as they had planned, but, although the dealers weren't professional, they weren't stupid at all and sure weren't deaf. So, when McGee slipped and didn't used Tony's fake name and called him _Tony_ instead of Gino, which Adam's friend had come up with, without consulting anyone, they got suspicious and started to gather their stuff to get away.  
  
It was already too late, though. They had gathered enough evidence against Pedro and his men and Tony had managed to talk about Adam with one of Pedro's man and so they knew how to get them to confess when they had them under arrest.  
  
Gibbs ordered everyone in, but Pedro was so desperate to get away that he started to shoot wildly in every directions.  
  
One of the bullets hit Tony in the chest but he got lucky and the pen in his breast pocket stopped it from entering his body. His luck ended there, though; the bullet shattered from the impact and a fragment hit Tony in the head right above his left eye while another one penetrated into the side of his neck.  
  
Before he knew what had happened to him, he was on the ground and every other sound had faded away.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
"How's he?" Gibbs stopped pacing as soon as he saw the doctor coming out of the operating room that held Tony inside.  
  
"Don't get me wrong, but I really wish we wouldn't meet so soon again." Doctor Wilson greeted Gibbs.  
  
"Likewise. How's he?" He asked again.  
  
"He's stable. No broken ribs, but one hell of a bruise there. His neck wound wasn't serious, it needed 6 stitches, but it'll heal nicely."  
  
"And the head wound?"  
  
"We got the bullet fragment out; luckily it hadn't gone far inside. We made a small incision on his forehead and get it out. It hadn't done any harm to his brain as far as the scans show; but he's got a severe concussion again and it's not good that it hasn't been even one month since his last one."  
  
Gibbs frowned; everyone knew that head traumas weren't good in general and two severe concussions within a very short time of each other? It was more than bad news. "What's the verdict?"  
  
"Can't be sure at this moment. We'll wait for him to wake up and will decide what to do from there."  
  
Nodding his head, Gibbs let the doctor walk away and he, himself, left the hospital to find a cafe to get a decent coffee. He wasn't about to leave Tony's side until he was sure that the younger man was going to be alright and with their case closed and the confessions added to the case, there was nothing to do in the office.  
  
It hadn't taken him long to get confession from Pedro's men and with Pedro's body on one of Ducky's table Gibbs was satisfied enough to leave things behind and stay at the hospital.  
  
He'd given McGee a verbal reprimand and a tongue lashing for his carelessness but that was it, since it was a pure mistake on his side and everyone knew that they couldn't expect Tim to control his stress and be good at that kind of things. It wasn't his territory, after all and the younger agent was blaming himself enough already.  
  
Finding his way back to the hospital, Gibbs decided to give Tony's father a call and make sure that he was fine; because knowing Tony, his first question would be about his father when he woke up. Or maybe his second question, right after he was reassured that everyone else on the team was safe and sound and the case had been closed successfully.  
  
And Tony didn't disappoint Gibbs. Just like Gibbs had expected, Tony's first question had been about team and the case. Annoyingly, the ex-cop looked relieved when he found out that he'd been the only one injured on their side.  
  
He was slurring a bit, but that was expected considering the amount of pain he was in and after a second severe concussion so close to the first one. Doctor Wilson told him about a series of scans but didn't seem too worried after examining Tony.  
  
Tony protested, though. Telling them that he was fine and he was needed in New York where his father was in another hospital. At that moment Gibbs was glad that he'd called the hospital and knew exactly how Senior was doing.  
  
"Your father is alright, DiNozzo. Your condition is worse and you'll stay here until you're clear."  
  
"With all due respect, Boss, you can't make me stay. I need to go."  
  
"I called the hospital, OK? He's doing fine. He's had a heart attack but they're keeping him in the hospital merely for precaution. You need to take care of yourself first, Tony." Gibbs added softly.  
  
Tony took a deep breath and grimaced when it hurt his chest and neck, but nodded at the end. He didn't really look forward to meeting his father; he just wanted to be a good dutiful son and make sure that the man was fine, but this was a good excuse to stay away. He could only take so much!  
  
So he gave up and let the nurses do their things and fell asleep afterward.  
  
...  
  
"Tony? Can you hear me?" Abby jumped from her seat when she saw Tony started to stir; he'd been out of it for the last 16 hours and even the nurses and doctors had started to worry.  
  
Slowly Tony opened his eyes and after a few minutes he finally was able to keep his eyes open and focused.  
  
"O my God, Tony. Don't ever do this to me again." Abby had tears in her eyes as she bent down and gave Tony a gentle hug. "You have no idea how worried everyone is. If you need to sleep that bad, let us know first, would you? I mean I know that you haven't had enough rest lately and you totally did need some good sleep, but that's not cool when you're concussed and it's severe and then you wake up and go back to sleep and won't wake up for more than 16 hours. Alright, that's not completely true, because you did wake up, but those times don't count since you weren't coherent and were out of it less than a minute after waking up. Everyone's stopped by to see you. But they had to get back to work; I stayed here and promised them that I'd give them a call as soon as you woke up, so I'm gonna go call Gibbs and tell them the good news. Do you need anything?" She smiled happily, but the smile fell off her face when she saw the pained confused look on Tony's face.  
  
"Umm, are you alright, Tony? I know that it's a stupid question, because you wouldn't be here if you were alright, but relatively, do you feel OK?"  
  
Tony remained silent and took a look around before his gaze fell on Abby again.  
  
"Tony?"  
  
When he finally opened his mouth, it wasn't an answer to Abby's question and it was nothing she needed to hear ever. Tiredly, he asked, "Where am I?"  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **... TBC ...**


	10. Chapter 10

"Hospital, where do you think, silly?" Abby grinned lopsidedly, sounding a bit unsure.  
  
Tony just frowned.  
  
"You didn't thi-"  
  
Tony cut her off. "Who are you?"  
  
Abby's eyes widened before something clicked and then she grinned widely. "Oh, that was a good one. But come on, you just woke up; you shouldn't do that to me. It was almost scary."  
  
Doctor Wilson chose that moment to enter the room. "So the rumors are true. You finally decided to spend some time awake. How are you feeling?"  
  
"Confused." Tony answered honestly.  
  
"About what?"  
  
"About what she-" Tony slowly nodded towards Abby, "is talking about and why she acts that way."  
  
"That's not nice, Tony." Abby feigned a pout.  
  
"Lady, I really don't know you. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, but I don't." Tony tried to push himself up but the nurse who'd come to his room after Doctor Wilson stopped him.  
  
The occupants of the room exchanged worried glances before Wilson looked back at Tony and asked, "What's your name?"  
  
"Tony." He answered, but then paused and pondered. "According to her." he looked at Abby. "I... I don't know my last name." He then started to panic. "What the hell is going on here? Why can't I remember my own goddamn last name? I'm not even sure if my name is Tony. I wouldn't know if she hadn't used it a thousand times. I-"  
  
"Hey, hey, calm down. We don't want you to hurt yourself anymore." The doctor tried to calm him. "Tony, I really don't want to sedate you; it's risky in your condition, but if you don't calm down then I'm not gonna have any other choice. Take a deep breath, OK?"  
  
Tony tried to do as he was told and finally when he got his breathing under control, he asked, "What's going on?"  
  
"You have one hell of a concussion; and since it's your second one in the past month, it's even more dangerous and tricky. But you don't need to worry, we'll run some more tests and hopefully we'll find out what's wrong. The facts that you woke up on your own and are finally fully alert are good signs."  
  
"But he could remember everything last time he woke up. Why would he forget, now?" Abby spoke up for the first time after realizing that Tony wasn't kidding about not remembering her. She was shocked and scared.  
  
"I... I could?" That added to Tony's fear.  
  
"Hey hey, deep breaths, remember?" Wilson instructed again. "That's why we need to run some more tests, but as weird as it might look, it's not totally strange. That's why patients with concussion need to be monitored very closely; because these things have happened before. I guess there might be a blood clot that we've missed in the first scans." He then turned to the nurse and gave her the next orders.  
  
When they left the room to prepare everything for Tony's test, Abby quietly walked to Tony's bed and grasped his hand. "It'll be OK." she said in a small voice.  
  
Tony looked up and smiled sadly. "Sure." He might not remember her, but they obviously were close. She'd stayed with him while he was unconscious; the least he could do was being polite while trying to reassure her.  
  
"I'm Abby." She introduced herself and suddenly grinned; she decided that Tony needed someone who could boost his spirit. "This is actually interesting. You know, we're kinda BFFs and it's funny that I have to introduce myself to you again and well, Gibbs once lost his memory, but I guess that was different, because although he couldn't remember us, he knew who he was and he'd lost just some years, not everything. Speaking of everything, your last name in DiNozzo. Does that ring any bells? Actually your full name is Anthony DiNozzo Junior, your father is Senior who is a real bastard and oh-" she clasped her hands over her mouth. "I shouldn't have said that."  
  
"My father is a bastard?" Tony frowned. "How come?"  
  
"He hit you last month. Shit-" She shook her head. "I shouldn't have said that either. What the hell is wrong with me? It's like I'm under the influence of truth serum. You should know what I mean, you've experienced it."  
  
Momentary forgetting about what Abby had said about his father and the fact that he'd hit him, Tony looked puzzled for receiving that amount of information. "Just what the hell do I do for a living? And who's Gibbs? And how did he lose his memory and how did he regain it? And what the hell happened to me that had landed me here with no memory of my life?"  
  
"Wow, you have so many questions." Abby smiled, but then it faded. "You gotta remember, Tony. I... I don't know what I would do if you don't remember. And not just me, we all will be devastated."  
  
"Miss Scuito, we're ready to take agent DiNozzo for his tests." The nurse announced as she entered the room.  
  
"I'll go and call Gibbs. Don't worry, Tony. Everything will be fine. I promise."  
  
"You seem pretty sure." Tony sighed.  
  
"I am. Because I know you; you're the strongest and most stubborn guy I've ever known; along with Gibbs, of course. And he's your Boss _and_ your friend, to answer one of your other questions. I better let them take you, now. The sooner you go, the sooner they can find the problem and the sooner you'll be fixed." She said and stepped aside and closed her mouth, determined to stay silent.  
  
"You talk fast." Tony gave her a grin before they wheeled him outside.  
  
...  
  
Gibbs was sitting at his desk, when his phone rang; he answered it after the first ring. "He awake, Abby?"  
  
"Yes." The reply was immediate, but Gibbs could say that she wasn't all excited and happy about it.  
  
"What's it, Abs? What's wrong?"  
  
"Gibbs, he can't remember anything. Not even his name."  
  
"What?" Gibbs stood up from his desk, "How's that possible? He knew everything the last time he woke up."  
  
"Yeah, I know; his doctor said that it might be a blood clot or something. They took him for more scans. I'm scared, Gibbs."  
  
"I'll be right there, Abby. Don't be scared; he'll be fine."  
  
...  
  
When they wheeled Tony back to his room, Gibbs was there with Abby, but Tony was already asleep.  
  
"Agent Gibbs, didn't expect to see you." Wilson smiled.  
  
"What's wrong with him, Doc?"  
  
"I can't answer that now; we should wait for his test result and he still needs an MRI after this."  
  
"When will you take him for that?"  
  
"In two hours. I gotta say it's worrying me how he falls into a deep sleep so sudden."  
  
"So, we should just wait?" Gibbs wasn't happy with the way things were going.  
  
"Hopefully the MRI will show the problem and we can decide what to do from there. He might need another surgery or it could be fixed just by the proper medicine."  
  
Gibbs nodded and looked at Tony's sleeping form. Wilson and the nurse left the room quietly, as Gibbs and Abby sat down and waited for Tony to wake up.  
  
Hopefully he wouldn't take another 16 hours this time.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **... TBC ...**


	11. Chapter 11

To their surprise, it didn't take Tony even an hour to wake up.

Blinking his eyes heavily, Tony tried to focus on the faces that were hovering above him. "Hey, Boss." He croaked.

Gibbs frowned as Abby's eyes widened, "Oh my GOD! Tony you can remember him?"

Tony looked puzzled. "Well, Umm, yeah? Shouldn't I?"

"Who am I? And I want a complete answer." Abby demanded.

Tony blinked and looked at Gibbs, but noticing that Gibbs was waiting for his answer, as well, he mentally shrugged, "Abby Scuito. Our Lab Tech. extraordinaire."

"Why thanks." Abby grinned widely but then frowned. "I can't believe you actually can remember everything."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tony frowned. "Normally, people get shocked when the others _cannot_ remember anything."

"Apparently you couldn't remember a thing the last time you woke up." Gibbs explained. "Abby go fetch his doctor."

Abby nodded and left the room.

"What do you remember from the last time you woke up?"

Tony's gaze turned to his left as he tried to remember. "Um, I don't know. You were here, we talked about... About... Damn, we talked about my Dad; I should be there, Gibbs; not lying here." He tried to push himself up but Gibbs' firm hand stopped him.

"You're not going anywhere, DiNozzo." Gibbs growled. "That conversation happened over 17 hours ago; so, if you think you'll go _anywhere_ in this condition, then you must've forgotten what I'm capable of."

Tony gulped. "17 hours ago? Gibbs, what if he dies?" His mind was working in a totally different way! Instead of getting worried for missing the last 17 hours, he was worried that he'd wasted so much time without knowing about his father.

"Then he dies." Gibbs blurted bluntly. "Dammit, Tony. Forget about that bastard for a second and focus on yourself. I promise you; once you get better, I'll take you to see him myself. Even though I believe he doesn't deserve it."

Tony sagged into his pillow. "I know, and I'm not looking for his love or approval; even _I_ am not that pathetic. It's just..." he trailed off.

Gibbs sighed. "You're not pathetic at all. It's called being a good man and a good son which _your father_ doesn't deserve. But like I said, let the doctors do their things and then we'll be on our way to New York."

Tony nodded. "Actually it kinda hurts."

"What?"

It wasn't like Tony to admit he was in pain.

"My head."

"I'll go see what's taking Abby and your doctor so long. Will you be alright?"

Tony smiled. "Yes and thanks. You know, for everything."

"I'm not doing anything you wouldn't have done for me." Gibbs replied. "Just try to stay awake. OK?"

Tony nodded but when they got back with his doctor he was fast asleep. The good thing was that they were able to wake him up for the MRI and he still could remember everything.

So, they took him to perform his MRI while Gibbs and Abby waited outside for some answers.

About forty five minutes later the doctor finally came out, looking truly thoughtful, and a few minutes later 2 orderly left the room, pushing Tony's bed towards his room.

Gibbs took a look at his once again asleep agent and looked back at the doctor, waiting for him to say something.

"We know what's causing the problem."

"And?"

"And there is a blood clot and some swelling, but it's not significant. One of our best neurologist was inside the room with me. We decided to start with new medications and wait and see if the clot disappears and the swelling goes down."

"What if the drugs don't work?" Abby asked anxiously.

"Then we'll have to open his head," Wilson answered. "The swelling is mild, the main problem is the clot but like I said, we believe the drugs _will_ work. We'll start them right away and change his other meds."

"How long will it take till you find out if it's working?" Gibbs asked gruffly.

"By this time tomorrow we can say if the new meds are working or not. But it'll take a while for him to be able to get back to normal. He might face confusion and memory loss another couple of times, but it'll go away completely and he'll be able to get back to his work in a couple of weeks."

Gibbs nodded, and then another question popped into his head, "Will he be able to fly to NYC?"

The doctor thought for a few seconds, before answering, "Maybe next week if it's totally necessary. If everything goes as well as we hope, then I don't see any problem with it. He might just feel some headaches, fatigue and nausea because of the changes in pressure."

"But he'll be alright, right? I mean one hundred percent." Abby inquired.

"Hopefully. I'll tell this to him as well, but try to keep him from another concussion; one more hit to the head, and he might fall into a permanent coma."

Abby's face darkened, but Gibbs put his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "That's gonna need an army, but we'll do our best."

Wilson chuckled and told them that he'd check up on Tony in a couple of hours and left.

Gibbs realized that he wouldn't be able to get any more work done that day; so he sent Abby home and told her that she could stay with Tony the next day since he couldn't do it himself.

When Abby finally left the hospital, Gibbs went and found himself some decent coffee before getting back to Tony's room to spend the night with his stubborn agent.

.

The next few days passed without much excitement. Unless you call Ziva and Tim's shocked faces ' _exciting'_! They couldn't believe it when Tony didn't recognize them and would just assess them without saying a word.

It happened a few hours after the doctors started the new meds on Tony and neither one of them were aware of Tony's condition. When they got to the hospital, Tony was awake and it seemed like Gibbs was talking to him and was trying to calm him down.

Tony looked at them for a few seconds and then turned his gaze to Gibbs and blinked quizzically.

"Your teammates." Gibbs answered the unasked question. "It's OK; it'll all come back to you in time. Don't be hard on yourself."

Tim and Ziva would've seen it as a big joke if Gibbs hadn't looked so serious and determined to calm Tony down and Tony hadn't looked so distant. He was even more distant than the past month, like he didn't even know them. And well, he didn't really, at that moment.

So after a few minutes of awkward silence and occasional phrases, Gibbs sent them away and told them to stay away for a while.

So far, that was the biggest event that happened during those days. Because, little by little, Tony started to stay awake longer and sleep lighter. And he actually could remember what was happening around him. It'd been a real scare but things were finally getting back to normal.

A week later Tony was finally released from the hospital; a fading scar on his neck, one above his left eye and one on his hairline were the only visible reminders from his latest ordeal.

After everything that had happened during the last few months, Gibbs wasn't surprised when Tony insisted on going to his own apartment. He was still on medications, but he reasoned that if he was released from the hospital, it meant that he could deal with things on his own.

Gibbs decided to give him some space. That would be for just one night anyway and the younger man clearly needed it. He'd booked two seats on a flight to New York for the next day, so Tony could go see his father. He hadn't said anything about it to Tony, though; so, when he turned up at Tony's place the next day, Tony was totally shocked to see him with a backpack.

"Umm, did I forget something again?" He asked uncertainly, looking really upset about his problem.

Gibbs shook his head. "Nope, I haven't told you about it. Go grab some stuff. We're leaving in 30 minutes."

Tony looked confused.

"And don't forget your meds."

"Where are we going exactly?"

"New York. Isn't that what you wanted to do?"

Tony's eyes widened. "I... Oh... You didn't have to, Boss."

"I said I'd go with you." Gibbs looked him in the eyes. "Hurry up or we'll miss our flight."

Tony smiled genuinely and thanked his Boss before walking to his bedroom to get his stuff.

**.**

**.**

**... TBC ...**


	12. Chapter 12

Even though it'd been almost two weeks since the day Tony had received that call about Senior being admitted to the hospital, he was still there when Tony and Gibbs arrived in New York.  
  
Apparently he'd had a heart attack and they needed to keep an eye on him, _at first_! Because later it was just DiNozzo Sr. who hadn't wanted to take any risks; so he'd refused to leave the hospital until they assured him that he'd be hundred percent fine.  
  
Tony rolled his eyes when the nurse told him about it, as Gibbs growled and called Sr. a few names under his breath. But they were there and Tony wanted to make sure his father would live.  
  
Senior couldn't believe his eyes when Tony and Gibbs stepped in his hospital room. His face lost all color and his heart rate accelerated.  
  
Tony eyed the heart monitor and sighed, knowing well what was going on in his Dad's head. "Dad." He greeted tiredly; the flight had taken its toll on his ailing body.  
  
"Junior, I... I didn't think-" the older man stammered. "You are here."  
  
"Wanted to make sure you're fine." He said coldly.  
  
Senior stared at his son for a few more seconds before turning his gaze to Gibbs.  
  
Forcing himself to stay calm, Gibbs glared at the older DiNozzo. "I'm still standing on my promise. You get near him and I'll make your life even more miserable."  
  
Tony turned around and looked at Gibbs in disbelief.  
  
But Gibbs ignored him and continued. "He's here because you've got the guts to keep his name as your next of kin, but I'd never leave him alone in a room with you."  
  
"Gibbs." Tony growled. He knew his Boss was just trying to show his support, but they all knew that he'd leave if Tony asked him to.  
  
Gibbs rolled his eyes and took a sit.  
  
"I...Ah... Thank you." Senior said to his son, his voice tight. "And you have no idea how sorry I am for what I did. I'm-"  
  
"Don't get there." Tony clenched his jaw. "I'm not here to talk about it and I don't think I ever want to hear your lame excuses."  
  
Senior just nodded, unable to push it. It wasn't easy for him to talk about it and somehow he was glad that Tony had given him the getaway. "How are you doing? You look pale and... Well, washed out."  
  
Tony snorted. "Like you'd know how I look when I'm worn out." He paused. "I'm fine. I talked to your doctor. What are you still doing here? They said you're going to be just alright."  
  
"They don't know what's really wrong."  
  
"Pussy so much." Gibbs mumbled from his seat and Tony had to suppress his laughter.  
  
"Dad, you just had a heart attack; yeah, that can be bad, but it wasn't serious and you'll be fine if you follow your diet."  
  
"What do you know?" Senior growled but regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth.  
  
"Yeah, what do I know? I'm just a pathetic, worthless piece of crap." Tony growled angrily. "Or so you told me last month and many times before that." He clenched his fists. "You know what? My mistake. I shouldn't have come. Gibbs tried to change my mind, but I didn't listen, as usual. Some things never change, I guess. Huh? Anyway, I'm leaving. I just wanted to make sure you were alright and had to see it for myself. Don't call me. Bye, Dad." Tony said those words and stormed out of the room.  
  
"Junior... Anthony." Senior called his son, but it was too late; he'd tried to interrupt his son's monologue, but hadn't found the right word.  
  
Slowly, Gibbs stood up from his seat and glared at Senior. "Told you that you don't deserve him. After everything you did to him, he still insisted on coming here and look what you did again." He shook his head and continued before DiNozzo Sr. could say anything. "He was injured and was in hospital again. He was hit in the head by a bullet fragment and after the concussion that you gave him, this second one made his condition even worse. He almost fell into a coma; there still is a blood clot in his head; he had brain swelling and had lost his memory."  
  
Gibbs decided not to mention that the swelling wasn't really serious and the clot was almost completely gone. "And you know what was on his mind whenever he was coherent and could remember his name? You."  
  
He took a breath. "He was adamant about coming here to make sure you're alright, because he doesn't want to be like you: Careless and selfish. Even though it would never be viewed as a selfish act, if he didn't want to see you after what you did to him. Whatever, though. Your loss is our gain. Don't you ever dare contact him again."  
  
Gibbs turned around to leave, but was stopped at the doorway when Senior called his name. Not bothering to turn around, he waited for Senior to talk.  
  
Senior was more than shocked and upset about what he'd heard; his son had almost died again! But there wasn't anything he could do about it; he knew the risks when he'd chosen that job. "Tell him I'm sorry." He finally uttered.  
  
 _'You're just sorry? That's it?'_ Gibbs thought angrily. _'Well, what else should I expect from someone like him?'_ Shaking his head he left the other man to live in his misery.  
  
Outside the door he abruptly came to a halt when he found Tony leaning against the opposite wall, looking at him thoughtfully.  
  
Gibbs knew that he hadn't talked that much since... Forever, but Tony was worth it and he didn't regret it even though Tony had heard every single word of his tirade.  
  
Shrugging his shoulders, Gibbs walked away; Tony was hot on his heels.  
  
"You ready to leave the city?" The older man asked.  
  
"More than ready, but we just got here."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So, aren't you tired?"  
  
That caught Gibbs' attention. He realized that the younger agent must be tired and in pain; the doctor had told him about possible headaches; what was he thinking telling Tony to get in a plane so soon? And waiting in the airport to catch a flight back to DC wouldn't be pleasant either.  
  
"You're right. Let's find a hotel; we can leave tomorrow."  
  
"You sure?" Tony knew that Gibbs was probably staying because of him and he knew that the older man had done him a huge favor by accompanying him. "I'm fine to go if you're staying just because of me."  
  
"You just got out of that damn hospital, DiNozzo and probably still have that blood clot in your head. We're in no rush. We'll get a room for tonight."  
  
"Umm, Ok. Thanks." Tony knew a lost argument when he saw one and in all honesty, he was spent.  
  
Once in the hotel, Tony couldn't help but bring up what he'd heard in hospital. He needed to acknowledge it. "Gibbs, thanks. You know, for what you said to my father in the hospital. It means a lot. I know I haven't been easy to be around, for the past month, I just... Well, thanks."  
  
Gibbs took his eyes off the book he was reading and gave the younger man a knowing look before opening his mouth. "I meant everything I said. I'm not sure why you think you can't trust me anymore; I know that I haven't been fair to you lately, but never realized that I'd gone that far."  
  
Tony interrupted him. "Whoever said I don't trust you?"  
  
"Not talking about the job."  
  
Tony looked away.  
  
Gibbs chose not to address it. "Just want you to know that I've got your six and that you can count on me."  
  
Tony sighed and nodded, a flash of pain crossed his face.  
  
"You taken your pills yet?"  
  
"In a bit." Tony shook his head and started to speak before he could change his mind again. "Gibbs, why do you keep putting me down in public and praise me when we're alone?"  
  
Gibbs blinked in surprise; he didn't expect Tony to get to the point and open up like that; maybe that head trauma hadn't been that bad after all.  
  
Tony was right, though. He seemed to be doing that more often lately, now that he was thinking about it.  
  
Taking Gibbs's silence wrong, Tony said, "You remember what you wrote in your performance appraisal review? That I talk too much? I know you're right, I do talk too much, but why did you have to keep interrupting me after that, saying that whatever I said was Yabba yabba?... You later told me that you depend on it, but..." he shook his head. "You insult me in front of everyone; how can I expect them to respect me when you don't have any respect for me?"  
  
Gibbs blinked, he hadn't thought about it that way and well, he'd been a bit too cruel anyway and he knew it. And that wasn't the only example. Sadly, he, himself, could remember more than one case when he'd done that to Tony. And here he expected the younger man to trust him and come to him when he had a problem.  
  
Tony shrugged when Gibbs again didn't say anything. He hadn't really expected an answer, anyway. That was 'Leroy Jethro Gibbs' he was talking to; he never expected an answer from that man. And it wasn't just because the man was a functional mute; no one ever dared to ask Gibbs a question. Well, Tony would question him if he felt that the older man was making the wrong decision, but he'd never ask anything in any other situation.  
  
Getting up from his seat, Tony walked towards the room's door but Gibbs' voice stopped him.  
  
"Does it make any difference if I say I screwed up?"  
  
Tony looked back with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"I know; it doesn't matter since we're alone again." Gibbs said quietly.  
  
Tony was still bewildered by Gibbs' first statement; he really was at a loss for words. Yes, in private it didn't really matter, but the fact that Gibbs had admitted to his mistake meant a lot.  
  
"I'll try to fix it." Gibbs added, thinking that after the recent events if he talked better to Tony at work, he might start coming to him again. "I know it's late now; everything you said is right, but I'll try." He was afraid of losing Tony; especially since the younger man was almost over the edge.  
  
It really had been a long time since he'd seen Tony in his basement and it was still bothering him that the younger man didn't feel comfortable enough to enter his house without knocking first.  
  
He _had_ to fix it.  
  
It wasn't just that Tony was really alone and needed someone to talk to; Gibbs, himself depended on Tony's presence. Yes, he'd been having another company, lately. But Samantha Ryan didn't really mean that much to him. He liked her, but his friendship with Tony was different, it was special and deep.  
  
Nodding his head, Tony smiled. "Thanks, Boss. It means a lot." He sighed and walked towards the door.  
  
"Are you gonna be alright?" Gibbs didn't mean physically, because they both knew he'd be fine and back to work in no time.  
  
Tony's hand rested on the door knob.  
  
That was a good question that he'd been asking himself a lot recently. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be alright." He replied eventually and surprisingly felt totally calm all of a sudden and that was then that he realized that he really was going to be fine, again.  
  
It seemed like he'd be able to keep going for a while longer and suddenly the weight on his shoulder didn't feel that heavy. He could still carry it.  
  
He'd thought that his father had brought him down for good this time, but at that moment he figured that it might've changed things for the better. Smiling to himself, Tony opened the door and left the room, murmuring another _'thank you, Boss'_ before closing the door behind him.  
  
Inside the room, the ex-marine smiled broadly in return.  
  
He hadn't been sure their trip to NY was such a good idea, but in that moment he knew that it was one of the best things that could've happened.  
  
He wasn't happy that Tony's father had hurt his son so bad, but it'd served him well.  
  
If they hadn't come here, he wouldn't have said those words to Senior and Tony wouldn't have overheard him, so he wouldn't have realized how the ex-marine really felt and wouldn't have opened up to him.  
  
It all had turned out pretty good; great actually.  
  
The moment that Tony opened the door and left the room, Gibbs could see that his steps were lighter than they had been in the past few months.  
  
Yes, Tony was going to be alright; he was going to be fine for at least a while longer now and that meant that the rest of them would be fine, too.  
  
Tony was the heart of their group. They needed him more than any of them would ever admit to it and definitely more than what Tony gave himself credit for. They were going to be fine, one way or another, as long as Tony was there and was able to handle the situation.  
  
Just like he'd said in the hospital, Senior's loss was their gain.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 **-The End-**


End file.
